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Matt was born and raised outside Boston, and after his hockey career fizzled at age 13 he decided to become a writer. Now he covers retail and all things shopping for DailyFinance, where he’s constantly finding new ways to help readers save money. He’s as thrifty as you can possibly be while living in New York City, and the only time he’s ever made an impulse purchase was when he bought himself one of those singing fish for $20 a few years ago. He still hasn’t forgiven himself.

A Texas gun shop proprietor is calling for a boycott of Groupon (GRPN) after the coupon site canceled his deal for a concealed-handgun training course.

Michael Cargill, the owner of Austin's Central Texas Gun Works, told us that he kicked off the deal on Tuesday and that it was intended to terminate Saturday night or when 600 people purchased it, whichever came first. He adds that due to runaway demand, his Groupon representative called the next day to increase the purchase limit to 1,500 buyers. But on Friday morning, the rep called again with bad news.

"He said the CEO of the company decided that he's not going to do any more gun-related deals," recounts Cargill, whom we profiled on Aol Jobs last week as part of our Guns in America series.

Groupon confirmed that gun deals have been put on hold until further notice, though it did not provide any insight on the role that CEO Andrew Mason played in canceling the deal.

"All scheduled and current gun-related deals featured on Groupon North America, including shooting ranges, conceal-and-carry and clay shooting, have been placed on hiatus while we review internal standards that shape the deal inventory we feature," said Groupon spokeswoman Julie Mossler in an emailed statement. "The category is under review following recent consumer and merchant feedback."

The abrupt shift is obviously due to the renewed gun debate following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut -- though it's less clear why the company is just now reevaluating its policy toward gun-related deals, more than a month after the shooting.

What is clear is that the decision to yank the deal before it was finished has Cargill hot under the collar. While he says he's retained a lawyer and is still evaluating his legal options, in the meantime he's trying to hit the company by encouraging gun lovers to boycott the site.

"I'm asking everyone in the Second Amendment community to boycott Groupon, because the message they're sending is, 'Look, we do not want to support law-abiding citizens taking time out of their schedule to learn the safety surrounding firearms,' " says Cargill. The class covers curriculum required to obtain a concealed-carry permit in Texas, including live-fire training, nonviolent conflict resolution and safety training.

News of the boycott has already started spreading on gun forums and in local news, and he says he's received more than a hundred emails expressing support.

As for customers who wanted to take the discounted class, there's good news: Cargill says he will honor any Groupon purchased before the deal was canceled, and those who missed out can take the class at the discounted rate until further notice.

If you can own all the guns you want I should be able to go buy a tank and point it at your house. Maybe build a bomb. Where does this entire "right to bear arms" stop? How many guns and bullets does one person actually need for self-protection? Afraid a group of 100 may invade your home?

I love Groupon. It fills me with ideas and cuts my costs by hundreds. I've made out pretty good with their offers. I guess I just hit it right and made sure that they are aware of what my interests are. Sorry that your experience wasn't as much fun.

"THE SECOND AMMENDMENT COMMUNITY" Nice phrase. I can see the smuggies setting around that powerpoint.

This is about money not community. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure what community has to do with buying a gun. And I've always owned guns. Just don't understand what part of personal identity is served by buying tons of them.

Groupon can and has the right to cancel the deals, just like I have the right not to use Groupon any longer. Groupon you just lost a customer stop being so PC and stand by your businesses. But we should have expected this from a bunch of left wing New England socialists.

Smart decision by Groupon, with the anti gun sentiment going around it makes sense to cool it for now. That TX Gun Shop could advertise in another way, they don't need Groupon. Since it's a requirement that gun owners take the course they can easily get it by just inquiring in their local area. What's the big deal ?

Never heard of them until now. But I keep away from the "deal" outfits. Most seem to have the liberal modus operandi: They bait & switch, collude with failing concerns, have terms that you need 100X microscope to read & a constitutional scholar to interpret and the age old "something-for-nothing" con which apparently a full half of this country has failed to grasp.

If prostitution is the oldest profession, I'm sure the 2nd was the pimp, the 3rd the "discount" pimp and, no doubt, the 4th was the leader/chief/king who managed to do the least & collect the most. And that's pretty much the way society has operated right up to the present day, boys & girls.